Crusher apparatus



Oct. 9, 1962 BRIDGEWATER 3,057,564

CRUSHER APPARATUS Filed Dec. 2'7, 1960 United States Patent Ofihce 3,057,564 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 3,057,564 CRUSHER APPARATUS Thomas E. Bridgewater, Elmhurst, Ill. Adams Engineering Company, 2151 E. 83rd St., Chicago 17, Ill.) Filed Dec. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 78,669 3 Claims. (Cl. 24191) The present invention relates to a novel crusher or pulverizing apparatus and more specifically to a novel crusher apparatus of the cage mill type.

Crushing apparatus of the type contemplated herein, usually comprises a rotor or cage structure adapted to be rotated within a suitable housing structure and formed so that material to be processed may be introduced into the interior of the rotor or cage structure so that it will be crushed when the rotor is driven at a high speed. Heretofore it has been proposed to make the rotor or cage structure in the form of a one piece casting. However crushing apparatus including such a one piece casting is relatively expensive to produce and maintain, as a result of high material costs and high labor costs including substantial amounts of work which are usually required in order to balance such one piece castings both statically and dynamically. Furthermore, when portions of such one piece rotor or cage structures become worn, it is necessary to replace the entire unit even though other portions thereof, are still in a satisfactory condition.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a novel rotor or cage structure for a crushing appartus of the type described which is constructed so that manufacturing and maintenance costs may be substantially reduced.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide a novel rotor or a cage structure for a crushing apparatus of the type contemplated herein, which is constructed so that balancing thereof may be accomplished relatively easily and economically.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel rotor or cage structure of the above described type which is constructed so that worn portions thereof may be quickly and easily replaced without replacement of other portions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novel rotor or cage structure of the above described type which is constructed so that portions thereof subjected to the greatest wear, may be formed from a high abrasion resisting material and other portions may be formed from a relatively economical material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel multiple part rotor or cage structure of the above described type which is constructed so that the various parts may be quickly and easily joined together and in a manner such that means utilized for connecting the parts are protected against substantial abrasion or wear during a crushing operation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a crusher apparatus incorporating features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken generally along line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3--3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a further enlarged sectional view taken along line 44 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a bar element utilized in the cage or rotor structure of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of an end member or disc utilized in a cage or rotor structure incorporating features of the present invention.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, a crusher apparatus 10 incorporating features of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The apparatus 10 comprises a housing 12 in which is disposed a rotor or cage structure 14 constructed in accordance with features of the present invention. The rotor is fixed on a spindle 16 disposed for rotation about a horizontal axis.

In order to drive the rotor at high speeds during a crushing operation, an electric motor 20 or any other suitable prime mover is disposed adjacent the housing 12. The motor 20 is connected with a transmission or suitable reduction gearing 22 which includes the above mentioned output shaft 16.

An opening 24 is provided in a side 26 of the housing 12 in alignment with the axis of the rotor 14 A suitable chute 28 is secured to the side 26 of the housing, which chute is adapted to receive material to be crushed or processed and guides the material into opening 24. As will be described more fully below, the material passing through the opening 24 is directed into the interior of the rotor or cage structure 14 for processing.

In accordance with the present invention, the rotor 14 comprises first and second end members or annular discs 36 and 32. The end members 30 and 32 are preferably substantially identical to each other and may be economically machined or otherwise formed from sheet steel stock material. The annular disc 32 is secured to a circular plate member 34 which in turn is formed integrally with or secured to a hub member 36 fixed on the rotatable shaft 16. The disc member 32 may be detachably secured to the plate 34 by means of a plurality of screws 36 or the like, or in some instances, the disc member 32 may be permanently secured to the plate member 34 by welding, if desired.

The rotor 14 also includes a plurality of bars or heavy pin 38 which extend between opposing faces of the axially spaced annular discs or end members 30 and 32. The bars 38 are formed from a steel alloy having relatively high resistance to abrasion and Wear during a material processing operation, and the bars may be produced by casting or any other suitable process. On the other hand the annular discs or end member 30 and 32 are preferably formed, as indicated above, from relatively inexpensive sheet steel stock material so as to minimize material costs of the rotor 14. Since the bars 38 receive much more contact and abrasion from the material being crushed during operation of the apparatus than the discs or end ring members 30 and 32, the end members will usually outlast one or more sets of the bars 38 even though they are formed from a relatively inexpensive material.

Material to be processed is introduced into the apparatus through the chute 28 from which it passes into the cage or rotor structure 14 through the opening in the annular end member or disc 30. As will be understood material entering therotor tends to fall downwardly by gravity until it is struck by one of the bars 38. The pieces of material being processed are then projected back and forth within the rotor upon engagement by the bars 38 until such pieces are reduced sufliciently in size so that they may pass outwardly between bars 38. As a result of impact forces, centrifugal force and gravity, the material being processed tends to flow generally radially outwardly with respect to the rotor. This direction of flow tends to cause fine particles and dust to wedge between abutting surfaces of the bars and the end members or discs 30 and 32. In accordance with a feature of the present invention the cage structure is constructed so as to prevent such small particles of the material being processed and dust from unduly wearing away and injuring the connection between the bars and end members in a manner which might cause failure of the rotor structure.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the end members or discs 30 and 32 are secured against opposite ends of the bars 38 by means of bolts 40 which extend through aligned apertures 42, 44 and 46 in the end members 30 and 32 and the bars 38 respectively. Complementary nut members 48 are turned onto exposed threaded ends of the bolts in the manner shown. Preferably lock washers 59 and 52 are disposed beneath the head 54 of each bolt and the nut member 48 associated with each bolt as shown in FIG. 4.

As indicated above the structure is formed so as to prevent undue abrasion or wearing away of the securing or bolt means which serve to connect the bars and end members. More specifically each of the bars 38 is provided with projections 56 and 58 extending axially outwardly from its opposite ends, which projections are located so that the aperture 46 extends therethrough. The end members 30 and 32 are formed with recesses 60 and 62 which are complementary in size and shape to the projections 56 and 58 of each of the bars 38. Thus when the parts are assembled as shown in FIG. 4, the projections 56 and 58 of the bars extend into the recesses. I

It is to be noted that the projections 56 and 58 traverse planes containing the inner surfaces of the end members 30 and 32 which abut the end faces of the bars. As a result any dust or fine particles of material being processed which may be forced into cracks 64 and 66 (see FIG. 4) between abutting surfaces of the end members and the bars will be stopped by the projections 56 and 58 so as to preclude abrasion and wear on the shank bolt 40. In addition pockets or recesses 68 and 70 are formed in the outer surfaces of the end members 30 and 32 respectively for accommodating and substantially enclosing the nut members 48 and the heads 54 of the bolts for minimizing abrasion thereof.

As shown best in FIGS. 3 and 5, the projections 56 and 58 at the end of the bars 38 are provided with a rectangular or other desired non-circular configuration. In addition the recesses 60 and 62 are provided with a similar configuration so that engagement of the edges of the projections 56 and 58 with the edges of the recesses 60 and 62 serves positively to lock the bars 38 against rotation around their own axes. Thus the bars will be held in fixed relationship with respect to each other so that they will be abraded or worn away in a uniform manner during a material processing operation.

As indicated above, the end members 30 and 32 and also the disc 34 may easily and economically be formed by simple machining operations. Thus these members may readily be formed with margins which are substantially true concentric circles so that these members will inherently be substantially balanced. Furthermore the securing means which includes the bolts, nuts and lock washers for the respective bars are substantially identical to each other so that they will not adversely affect the balance of the rotor or cage structure 14. The bars 38 are also formed so as to insure proper balancing cage or rotor structure. More specifically, the bars 38 are provided in sets which are substantially matched and identical as to weight. Therefore when a matched set of bars 38 is assembled with the end members 30 and 32 the rotor 14 will be properly balanced. This feature not only facilitates economical manufacturing of the rotor structure but also enables the rotor to be easily repaired by the replacement of a worn set of bars since it is unnecessary to return the rotor to the factory or to take any additional steps in order to insure a properly balanced rotor after a matched set of replacement bars has been installed.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described herein it is obvious that many structural details may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. In a crusher apparatus of the type described, a rotor comprising a first disc member mountable for rotation about a predetermined axis, a second disc member axially aligned with and spaced from said first disc member, a plurality of separate bars of high abrasion resistant material extending between and spaced around said disc members, said disc members including first recess means in axially inwardly facing surfaces thereof and axially aligned with said bars, said bar including axially extending projection means at opposite ends thereof respectively traversing planes including the axially inwardly facing surfaces of said disc members and entering into said recess means, said projection means and said recess means having complementary noncircular engageable surfaces for positively securing said bars against rotation about their own axes, said disc members respectively including second recess means in and spaced around outwardly facing surfaces thereof and paired and aligned with said first mentioned recess means, said disc members respectively including relatively thin web portions between the pairs of first and second recess means, each of said web portions having an aperture therethrough, and securing means including shank portions extending through said apertures in said web portions and into each of said projection means and securing the disc members and said bar against axial separation, said securing means having enlarged outer end elements disposed substantially entirely within said second mentioned recess means.

2. A rotor, as defined in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises bolts having shank portions extending entirely through said bars and through web portions of both of said disc members.

3. A rotor, as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said bars includes generally radially extending opposite end surfaces completely surrounding the projection means and from which projection means extend, each of said projection means has a predetermined axial extent, and each of said first recess means has an axial extent greater than that of the projection means and transverse dimensions less than corresponding dimensions of said radially extending surfaces, said radially extending surfaces abutting the axially inwardly facing surfaces of said disc members and substantially completely covering said first recess means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 211,576 Lawton et a1. Jan. 21, 1879 225,552 Bennett Mar. 16, 1880 FOREIGN PATENTS 117,612 Australia Oct. 2l, 1943 171,130 Germany May 23, 1906 734,574 France Aug. 2, 1932 

